ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the social context that has led to Australia's well-known gun control laws. The Port Arthur massacre in 1996 left 35 dead and 23 injured and was the turning point for the government to clamp down on gun ownership in Australia. These national gun control guidelines were penned and pushed by a conservative government, and held bipartisan support, but were contested by pro-gun lobby groups. The result of this push for more control resulted in Australia's National Firearms Agreement, which set the guidelines for what should and could be legislated and simultaneously put gun dealers at the centre of the process of compliance with the law. But how can you get such high levels of compliance within a community that has resisted these changes so vehemently? How can you get people who appear to fundamentally disagree with the law to comply at such high rates? How we understand why people comply with the law may also provide avenues to explore how to get more cooperation from those who might be most resistant.
